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Precursor alphabet
The Precursor alphabet is a substitution cipher written by Naughty Dog Inc. for use in the ''Jak and Daxter'' series. It appears to have deep Precursor origins as it is used in almost every Precursor artifact in the series, as well as common signs, posters, and other game elements. Although it is not the earliest of Precursor forms, as shown by the dark satellite in Jak 3, which displayed a cipher made entirely of lines and dashes. The following text was translated using the adjacent legend. ''The Precursor Legacy'' Buildings, walls, and landscape * Majority of Precursor buildings, platforms, launchers, etc.: "Life" * Some Precursor objects (e.g. roof of citadel): "Power" * Sides of half-buried columns in Geyser Rock and Forbidden Jungle: "Quest" *'Lost Precursor city' **Majority of walls, ends of the colored pipes, interior of the chamber: "Fuel" (often backwards) **Some walls, rim of large whirlpool and platform that lowers to the city: "Life" **Some entryways (strip of text on the floor), platform after the dark eco chamber: "Tank" **Step just below the power cell chamber in the platform room, some floor edges: "Tubes" Objects *'Precursor orbs' **Top row: "Naughty Dog" **Bottom row: "Madman" * Eco vents: "Power" (outer rim), "Strength" (inner rim) **Note: "G''" and "''H" are alternate letter forms. **Cap on blocked eco vents: "Pow(er)" (repeated fragment) * Dark eco bomb (opening cut scene): "Beware" * Fisherman's bandanna: "Fish" * See-saw platforms in Boggy Swamp: "Power" *'Lost Precursor city' ** Platforms sliding back and forth beneath power coils: "Power" ** Platform that sets off the dark eco chamber: "Danger" ** Rim beneath the dark eco chamber platform: "Power" *'Snowy Mountain' ** Dark eco containers frozen in ice: "Power" (top), "SOBW" (bottom) ** Precursor blockers, buttons that activate platforms leading to the lurker gate switch: "You are getting really dizzy" (in a circle) Map text * The text on the map that comes with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy: "In ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep, the silent giants wait to be awakened. Deep will their slumber be, silent their once echoing voices, until the world has no memory of their beginnings. In the gloom they will watch, and they will wait. Those who go to them for answers will return only with new questions. But these will come when silence ends. The one who carries the light will awaken the voices. With him one whose fate was twisted toward darkness long ago, in the time before time when the light bursts from the earth the answers to the questions will begin. But only begin, for still the world will not be ready to learn the truth of its past, or the secrets of its future." Alternate forms On the cover of ''The Precursor Legacy there are rows of Precursor text. The remarkable thing about these sentences is that there are different letter forms for "E", "I", "G" and "M". * Precursor orb behind Jak on the cover: "One desti" (this could be either one destiny or one destination.) ''Daxter'' * Transit system ** Graffiti: "RAD", "PSP", "Jak rulez" ''Jak II'' City signs, posters, and banners *'Ticker signs' **A green sign with yellow pixel-text, the text coming in from left to right, in random order "A''", "''B", "C''" and "''D" *'Neon signs' **Sign above Hip Hog Heaven Saloon: "Hip Hog" **Sign above the bar inside the Hip Hog (pre-Naughty Ottsel): "Hip Hog" **Sign above the bar after the Hip Hog becomes the Naughty Ottsel: "Daxter" **Green sign inside the Hip Hog Saloon (left from the door): "Morgan" **Large flashing sign with yellow text on pink and blue background: "Praxis" **'Neon Bazaars signs' ***Above Brutter's fish shop: "Fish" ***Sign displaying five fish: "Fresh Fish" ***Sign with yellow text and blue border resembling a scroll: "Rugs" ***Vertical sign with yellow text and pink border: "Tools" ***Paper poster inside Bazaar shops: "LLL" (going from large text, medium text, small text) *'Lit signs' **Signs depicting Erol: "Erol" ***'Untranslated:' Very small letters along the bottom **Signs depicting Baron Praxis: "Obey" ***'Untranslated:' Very small letters along the top **Red signs depicting the Baron's coat of arms: "Praxis" **Blue signs depicting a skyscraper (green text): "Future" **Blue signs with light red text, or light red with yellow text: "Hip Hog" **Signs depicting Krew in his wrestling mask: "Hip Hog" **Signs depicting a Krimzon Guard: "Peace" **Signs depicting a Metal Head (red, dripping paint text): "Enemy" **Signs depicting a bottle of liquor: "Happy Pirate" **Signs depicting three women's tops: "Fashion" (blue text) "Now" (white text) **Signs depicting a tall young man and a stout older man: "Doctors" **Signs depicting a small blue zoomer: "The Good Life: GT" (followed by two unknown symbols) **Signs depicting a medium-sized yellow two-seater: "Breaks Down: M" (followed by one unknown symbol) **Small signs with purple text on orange: "Onin Knows" **Signs with black and white letters and red paw mark: "Naughty Dog" **Orange and yellow signs with white text: "Krew: Heavy Industry" **'Directional signs:' The majority of these signs are in the Port, however a few may also be found in Main Town. ***Green sign with yellow "turn" arrow in the center and white text on top and bottom: "All Mail" ***Green sign with a red circle struck with a line ("No") and white text: "Unloading" (as in, "No Unloading") ***Green sign with yellow text followed by a white left-pointing arrow and white text: "Loading: Use Left Load Area" ***Green sign with yellow text followed by two groups of white letters and arrows: "Unloading: A B" (arrow pointing right), "C D E" (center-turning arrow) ***Green sign with five white arrows and white text: "A''" (first arrow, pointing left) "''B" (second arrow, pointing left) "Ca" (third arrow, pointing straight) "Cb" (fourth arrow, turning right) "D''" (fifth arrow, pointing right) *'Posters, banners and painted signs:' **Oracle's hut wall scrolls: "''The noble / will be / assured of / a place / in history / this being / granted / a form of / life to / be forever / venerated / by their / ancestors / as one who / lived a / life of / good" **'Underground HQ posters:' ***Poster of Erol (behind Torn's desk): "Erol", "Take out at first opportunity", "Extremely dangerous", "Enemy number..." ***Posters of Baron Praxis: "Obey" (crossed out) **'Bazaars signs and banners:' ***Blue (or occasionally grey) vertical banners: "Market" ***Large banners strung between buildings: "Big Sale" ***Small sign in alcoves: "Sale", "LLL" ***Small sign inside Brutter's fish shop: "Fresh Fish", "Good Soup", "Cheap", "Good..." (last word illegible, may be "Gruel") **'Racing posters:' ***Before the Class 3 race: "Class 3" ***After the Class 3 race: "Class 2" ***After the Class 2 race (depicting Erol): "Class 1" ***After the Class 1 race (depicting Jak and Daxter): "Champions" **'Stadium banners:' (held by crowd spectators) ***Light blue sign with red text: "Erol" ***Red sign with blue and white-outlined black text: "We Love Erol" ***Green sign with yellow and red text: "Go Erol" ***White sign with blue and green text: "Speed Kills" Vehicles Letters are written normally on the left side of vehicles, but reversed on the right. *'NYFE racer:' **Large front fin: "FB" **Small front fin: "WE" **Chassis: "RB" *'Air train:' **Sides: "Sophia" (large white text), "KGT" (small yellow text), "Krimzon" small white text beneath the front cab window **Top: "Tate" (large blue text), "GCL" small yellow text *'HellCat cruiser:' "TSL" Buildings and walls *'Mountain Temple:' The Temple repeats words and phrases from The Precursor Legacy **Decorative borders: "Life" (usually upside-down or backwards) **Trigger buttons and platform beneath the lens: "You are getting really dizzy" *'Haven City:' Much Haven graffiti and/or building markings consist of symbols that resemble Precursor letters (or even English), but are not translatable. None of them are actual words, however translatable occurrences are as follows: **Two large blue-gray letters, very stylized in comparison to their normal versions: "'WG'" **Three large blue-gray letters underlined by short broken vertical bars (Port area): "IZW" **Two lines of letters underlined with one bar: "ABR", "KLZ" (sometimes backwards) **Three lines of text underlined by two broken horizontal bars and one faint line: "HWPIAS", "ASLKHD", "AS AQO" *Tomb of Mar walls/frames/borders: "Tomb" (sometimes in reverse) *Weapons factory platforms: "Caution" Items and miscellaneous objects *'Clothing' **Erol's right shoulder-guard: "Commander" **Onin's blouse: random Precursor letters **Onin's hat (rim): "Onin" *'Generic items:' **Warp gates: "Life" (unchanged from The Precursor Legacy) **Eco barrels: "Barrel of shit" (often backwards, particularly in cut scenes) **Boxes by Vin's hiding place at the strip mine: ***Two pale grey letters: "XE" ***Yellow label: "This is a b" ***Dark grey text: "Smal Tex" **Baron's public announcement hologram: "A B C D" (backwards, repeated) **Bottles on shelves in Bazaars: "Oil", "Soap", and "X''" **Small green containers in Keira's garage: "''Oil" *'Specific items:' **Rift gate: "Amy" and "Tate" at the top, "Titus" and "Brenner" on the sides **Time map: "time map" **Gear machine in Mountain Temple: "Life" **Machinery in No Man's Canyon: "Canci" **Tip of shard tower in No Man's Canyon: "Ranks" **Platform below shard holder at tower base in No Man's Canyon: "A B C D E F G ..." **Statue of Mar, armor: "Defender" **Statue of Mar, blade: "Honor" **Base of the oracle: "Fuel" (backwards) **Letters on the Metal Head Mash game: "WAC" *'Power station Computer Screens:' **Eye-level computer screens: "Morgan is still missed even after a year has passed" **Large computer screen (various lines in random order): ***"Morgan I miss you" ***"Morgan" ***"Thirteen years hard time" ***"There will never be another" ***"Good dog" ***"I will always love you" ''Jak 3'' *Dark satellite: after completing the minigame, the screen shows what Seem describes as "... an ancient dialect, the earliest Precursor forms". It is untranslatable. *Damas' staff: "We" (inner orb) and "Pride" (outer part) *Eco mine elevators: "Elevator" (backwards) *Bomb train in the eco mine: "Explosives" (yellow text) and "Danger" **Boxed explosives on bomb train: "Explosives" (yellow text) and "Danger" **Blue tanks on bomb train: "Be careful" **Red barrels on bomb train: "Be careful" and "Explosives" *The poster of Erol from the Underground HQ in Jak II is duplicated on the inside right-hand wall of the Naughty Ottsel ("Erol. Take out at first opportunity. Extremely dangerous. Enemy number...") *The Ottsel Leader Precursor headplate: "Sight" *The Precursors themselves have Precursor letters on the trim of their robes. *Air train: "Sophia", "Krimzon", "TGM" (sides), "Tate" and "GCL" (top) *The cipher glyph has three reels, each repeating the same four letters, from top to bottom: "T''", "''F", "Q''" and "''K". *New Haven City signs: **Large signs (orange and black striped backgrounds): "Haven City" (red text) and "A new tomorrow" (blue text) **Medium signs (yellow text on black and blue design): "The New Haven City" **Signs depicting a Freedom League soldier: "F L" **Signs depicting Veger: "Veger" **Yellow sign with red background letter and black text: The background letter is "B''" and the text reads "''Brutters", as in Brutter's trinket stand **Blue sign with Freedom League insignia: "We Protect" *New Haven City walls: **There are three characters (untranslatable) in a block font, proceeded by a period and overlined. The text also appears upside down and reversed. *'Power station and Freedom League computer screens:' (repeated from Jak II) **Eye-level computer screens: "Morgan is still missed even after a year has passed" **Large computer screen (various lines in random order): ***"Morgan I miss you" ***"Morgan" ***"Thirteen years hard time" ***"There will never be another" ***"Good dog" ***"I will always love you" ''Jak X: Combat Racing'' *Sign in G.T. Blitz' show: "Liv" (live) *Untranslated ticker reel at the bottom of Blitz' show *Movable barrels within the Dirt Pit Arena: "Stay in school" ''The Lost Frontier'' *Sign by the force field guarding the entrance to Tym's treehouse: "No Robots" *Sign in the Phantom Blade: "Open Sky" *Stone slabs in Old Aeropan Barracks: random repeating letters. *Pressure activated buttons: "Teleport" *Big stone pots: "Preurn" *Precursor orbs: "Precursor" (top), "Madman" (bottom) *Eagle poster in Barracks: "Die for a cause" *Dark soldier poster in Barracks: "Warrior" *Pushable pillars: "Push This" *Light eco pump (lower box when red): "Reset Pump" *Auto save box: "A. Save" *Sign in Barter's pub: "Brawl" ''Jak and Daxter'' Collection On the PS3 XMB, if is not pressed, a picture shows with the following text: *Top row: "bcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzab" (the alphabet, starting with B) *Middle row: "Mass Media" *Bottom row: "XMB Michael H?L?" (some letters are obscured by characters in the foreground) On the main menu of the game, when you scroll down to credits, the background is replaced with a temple. It has three rows of text: *Top row: "Jak Collection" *Middle row: "Jak and Daxter" *Bottom row: "Mass Media" Miscellaneous Morgan Morgan, a name that can be found in many places (particularly computer screens), references a black Labrador owned by Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin. She passed away at 13½ years old, a year before the development of Jak II, and was an integral part of the company, having accompanied Rubin in his making of video games since Rings of Power. A list of where her name appeared in the game may be found above, though she was particularly referenced to in the credits of The Precursor Legacy and Jak II, in the Jak II manual which states "In memory of Morgan.", all over Haven City in Jak II and Jak 3, and on the computer screens in the power station and Freedom HQ during Jak II and Jak 3 respectively. Additionally, in a teaser trailer named "The Arrival" uploaded by PlayStation's official YouTube channel, "Morgan!" can be read on the license plate of a jeep written in the Precursor alphabet.https://www.youtube.com/user/playstation?feature=results_main Trivia * The Precursor alphabet shares a few glyphs and its style with the Mara script (1995) from the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye ride in Disneyland (pictured right). Notes References External links * Precursor alpha font download (deviantART) * Precursor alpha font download (fonts2u) Category:Precursor artifacts Category:Jak and Daxter setting